Improvement in devices for heating waxed threads in sewing-machines



A. HOLBROOKJr. 7 Heating Waxed Threads in Sewing Machines. No. 43,209. 1 Patented June 21, 1864.

N. PETERS, Phfilwulhcgrtlphen wash; c,

UNITED STATES ATENT Fries.

AMOS HOLBROOK, Ja, or LYNN, MAssAoHUsnr'rs'.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 43,209, dated June 21, 1864.

To all whom it may concern.- Be it known that I, AMOS HOLBROOK, Jr., of Lynn, in the county of Essex, in the State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Rotatin g-Horn Sewing-Machines; and I do hereby declare that the following, taken in connection with the drawing which accompanies and forms part of this specification, is a description of my invention sufficient to enable those skilled in the art to practice it.

My invention consists in an improvement by which I' am enabled to employ gas as. a

means for heating the rotating horn of the sole sewing machine shown and described in the United States Letters Patent granted for the invention of Messrs. McKay and Mathies, August 12, 1862, and numbered 36,163, the gas so employed being a cheap substitute for alcohol, oil, &e., thereby making a material daily saving in the cost of operating each of such of the aforesaid sewing-machines, to which my improvement may be applied, besides having advantages in the matters of cleanliness and ease of management. It is well known that in operating these sole-sewing machines it is necessary to heat the horn in order to keep the wax upon the thread soft and the thread flexible during the sewing process. It is also well known to those who operate the said rotatinghorn sewing-machine that its horn is mounted on a vertical tubular shat't, within which is a small vertical shaft which operates the device which lays the thread into the hook of i the needle. Said small vertical shaft, occupying the axis of rotation of the horn-bearing shaft, rendered it necessary to adopt some peculiar arrangement to convey gas to a burner placed in convenient position upon or under the horn which should not interfere with the rotation of the horn and the parts therewith immediately connected.

Prior to my invention a slack flexible hose was used to convey the gas to the burner; but this involved the unwinding of the hose from the horn-supporting shaft as often as it became tightly wound up thereupon during the operation of the machine in sewing around soles, and'the trouble and loss of time involved in this more than counterbalanced any advantages arising from the use of gas for heating.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, which shows the rotating horn and its rotating supporting shaftin elevation, and a portion of the sewing-machine which receives and supports said shaft.

Fixed to the frame will be seen (in section) a small reservoir, a, within which, but not in contact therewith, is another smaller reservoir or inverted cup, I), (also seen in section,) which is secured to the hornshaft and rotates with it. The large reservoir is partly filled with fluid, so that the lower open end of b is immersed therein, the normal level of the fluid being represented in blue lines, above which level is a space in 1), into which the gas-supply pipe debouches, the two cups a and b and the fluid forming what may be briefly termed a gas-receptacle, one part of which. may be freely turned in the otherwithout escape of gas and without wear or other derangement by which leakage of gas would ensue. From the space in the upper part of b a pipe leads 'in any convenient manner to the point where the gas is consumed, the said pipe, being a fixture to the hornshaft and its appurtenances, of course rotating with the horn. The fluid used in the cup a may be mercury, water, alcohol, or other suitable substance. Pressure in the cup I) must be regulated by a cock in the gas-supply pipe, so as not to blow the fluid out of and over the-top edge of a, between the walls of a and I), and where the height of a is small and the pressure liable to be considerable mercury is the best fluid for use.

I do not specify any peculiar formof burner or any location for one, as these matters may be varied. Any form of gas-burner which mingles the air with the gas so that it gives little light and no smoke, and burns with a. low blue flame, is well adapted for use in this connection.

For convenience aeock or other provision may be arranged in connection with a, by which thefluid may, when required, be drawn off from a, and to prevent the fluid from becoming foul from accidental droppings into it the top of 1) extends over a like a flange or cover.

I claim- The combination of a fluid-gas joint with the rotating horn of a sewing-machine, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 6th day of May, A. D. 1861.

W. BASSEN, F. W. G. LEWIS. 

